2012 was a great year for both smart cards and integrated circuit (IC) cards with a reported 7.95 billion and 7.99 billion units shipped respectively – a year over year jump of 9.4% and 12.0%, according to ABI Research. The addition of NFC, RF and secure elements has been a major influence in the new revenue high for IC cards, a reported 2012 total of $2.69 billion.

In response to the 2012 figures, the Smart Card and IC Market Shares Analysis has lauded a few industry players for their contribution and innovation.

With specific regards to IC market shares, NXP has cemented itself as the largest market player in terms of revenue recording nearly 30% of the total market share. NXP’s success was bolstered by its NFC, RF and secure element shipments, which topped 200 million units combined.

Elsewhere, Samsung retained its top spot in total units shipped – more than 2.9 billion of which were SIM cards alone. Also defending top title is Infineon, who has maintained its position atop the smart card market – excluding NFC and embedded security – with more than 25% share in total revenues. Convincing shipments in the SIM, payment and government ID markets have propelled Infineon to its top position.

For the smart card industry it remains business as usual with the top four vendors – Gemalto, Oberthur, G&D and Morpho – standing firm on the basis of both market share and units shipped. Oberthur was the only vendor to successfully maintain its overall market share percentage, while the others dropped only slightly.

Important to note from ABI’s figures is that the most significant vendor movement was seen in the government ID sector.

Morpho recorded the highest jump in the government ID market, gaining a 3% in share over 2011. Though maintaining the overall top spot, Oberthur fell slightly in the government ID sector, dropping one position below Gemalto. G&D also posted slightly lower government ID shipments than 2011.

Market positions aside, the consensus at ABI Research is that NFC will play a determining role in the smart card and IC card market in the coming years. See the full ABI research report here.